A Barbequed Grilling
I was watching American Eats on The History Channel this morning. The topic was barbeques. Now, I know all about the rivalry between Memphis and Kansas City barbeque (I’ve even indulged in Gates barbeque sauce thanks to my brother), but I had no idea that barbeque actually comes from the Carolinas or the contributions of Eastern European immigrants to Texas barbeque.
I find this kind of thing absolutely fascinating. It’s yet another example of how immigration led to the richness of American culture, and also an example of the great regionalization of that culture.
Here in Wisconsin, we don’t have “barbeques” in the backyard. We “grill out”. And, grilling out generally means burgers and brats. “Barbeques” mean Sloppy Joes or something we get at a restaurant. On one hand, I feel like we’re missing out on an awesome cultural phenomenon, on the other hand, the rest of the country doesn’t have real brats, so we’re probably even.
I know that we have readers and contributors who are quite familiar with barbeques, so this is as good of a place as any to determine who has the best bbq.
Posted by at April 12, 2008 10:25 AM
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Comments
| # April 12th, 2008 11:31 AM james |
"“Barbeques” mean Sloppy Joes or something we get at a restaurant. " I've never heard that. Most everyone I know in Wisconsin calls it grilling out or barbequeing, interchangeably. are you aware that it's blasphemy to use BBQ sauce during a Texas barbeque? it's true. |
| # April 12th, 2008 1:02 PM kris |
| hmmm...maybe this is another Eastern vs. Western Wisconsin thing - like soda vs. pop. |
| # April 12th, 2008 2:41 PM james |
| i've asked 2 people from western wisconsin, and neither has heard of "barbeques" referring to anything other than grilling out. it also doesn't seem to be used that way around the twin cities, which i would expect if it were a western wisconsin thing. are you sure that this isn't just a "kris thing?"
in related news, i'm told that in sheboygan they don't grill out, they "fry out." |
| # April 12th, 2008 2:50 PM kris |
| Maybe it's a central Wisconsin thing or a Polish thing.
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| # April 14th, 2008 1:08 AM TheUnabrewer |
| KC style is entirely too sweet for me. I prefer Memphis, Carolina, or Texas, roughly in that order, but according to mood. It's like arguing whether pizza or nachos are better.
And I like brats too. |
| # April 18th, 2008 1:47 PM mbrlr |
| Memphis dry barbecue. Nothing else. |